Ties That Bind
by Imaginationqueen87
Summary: The mansion is turned on it's ear when it is learned that Charles is not the only one with a child that the students didn't know about. Secrets and surprises come to the surface and can parent and child bond through the barriers that they face
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Do not own X-Men evolution, but I do own the characters Min-Jee(X-22) and Sara Howlett (Lauren Kim/ Chung-Hei Kim)

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><p><strong>Ties That Bind<strong>

_"*Mom, how did they find us?*"_ a teen girl asked dark eyes filled with fear.

Both mother and daughter knew this was bound to happen. As the daughter of the man the scientists would only refer to as Weapon X, she was pursued her whole life for her abilities, there were rumors that they wanted to hold her until she finished growing and plate her skeleton with adamantium the way they had her father's before her.

Her mother had snuck her out of the lab years ago to save her from the life that X23 was being groomed for, she wanted to get X23 out as well, but it was too late, they had done too much to X23 and she would have needed more help than the woman could have given her.

She had known they were going to South Korea and gave her daughter a Korean name so she cold fit in with those around her. After a while she settled on Min-Jee Kim, later changed to Min-Jee Howlett

_"*Min-Jee, run, you know where to go*"_

_"*Mom...*"_ Min-Jee cried

_"*Find him Min-Jee, you know where to go!*"_

Min-Jee looked furiously at the intruders to her home. She had been too young at the time she was snuck out, to be put through the Weapon X process thus; she had yet to get her claws. She was tough even without them and knew how to defend herself. Then she realized she was outnumbered, and ran for the secret exit that the hydra agents didn't know of.

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Charles sighed, he knew that Min-Jee wasn't safe where she was and would eventually try to make her way to him and to her biological father. She had been told her whole life of her father. The details her mother might have known about Logan might have been few, but she had enough of an idea to know that she would recognize him should she ever come face to face with him.

He sighed, the precautions they used to remain hidden had worked up to the point where Min-Jee's powers manifested and then nothing would have helped them. Her mother had changed her name from Lauren Kim to Chun-Hei Kim to finally Sarah Howlett after faking her own death along with that of her daughter now known as Min-Jee.

Min-Jee was miles away from the institute, they were close to Niagara Falls but they were still in the United States, he knew that Min-Jee would do what she had to in order to safely get to the institute and the safety that she could find within its walls.

"God speed, child" he whispered and then called for a team to be on standby in case they needed to step in for Min-Jee.

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Logan heard about the young mutant, he heard her first name but not her last... he wasn't sure why, but for some reason Charles didn't tell him that and it frustrated him.

"Chuck, what is that girl's last name and why won't you tell me"

Charles sighed; Logan deserved to know the truth about Min-Jee before she arrived

"The same people that created X23 used your DNA to create another, but she was not a clone, they managed to create a child with the use of your DNA, but unlike X23 whom was created using your DNA alone. Min-Jee was created to be your daughter, not your clone. They were going to use Min-Jee as they did X23, but her mother snuck her out after hearing what they were going to groom her daughter, your daughter to become. Min-Jee came before X-23 and was ruled as one of the failures when she vanished from the lab they thought she had perished."

"Her mother... who is she, do I know her...?"

"I believe you might, Lauren Kim was her mother's birth name, but when Lauren took Min-Jee she decided she had to change her name, erase that part of their lives in order to protect Min-Jee, whom at that time had no name." Charles sighed, "She faked her own death and took on a new name and created their new lives in Seoul, South Korea."

"What was that name?"

"Sara Howlett, she had discovered in some old computer files your true name and decided that the best way to help Min-Jee was to use that surname as no one actually equates it to you... haven't in years. Although while they were in Korea they used Sara's last name, Kim in order to better fit in with the Korean populace."

"Yeah, I remembered that name a few years back, I just thought it was best to leave it in the past" Logan sighed "so Min-Jee is comin here, lookin for me?"

"Yes, the men that were hunting her were able to track her by her now active X-gene; I'm sending a team to pick her up"

"I wanna go, she probably won't go with them, but if she knows who I am, I'm sure I can get her to come along"

"Okay, Logan just be careful, and remember that her English is quite poor as she was educated in the Korean school system and was given very little opportunity to speak English as her mother was bilingual and spoke to her in Korean."

"I will" Logan replied and then went to join the team

"You coming, Wolverine...?" Scott Summers, aka Cyclops, asked

"Yeah, Slim, I'm comin"

They got in the X-copter, headed out towards Min-Jee's last known co ordinance.

"Guys I just heard from the professor that Min-Jee doesn't speak very good English so don't be offended if she doesn't initiate conversation or answer questions. She may not know how to answer or not even understand the question." Scott said to his team

"Whoa, sounds like she's gonna have a rough transition" Rogue sighed

"She will, but the professor will help her with her English once we get her back to the mansion," Storm said

"Do we know what language she speaks? That might help us out a bit," Jean asked

"She speaks Korean," Logan said. It was the first thing he had said since setting foot into the jet.

"Oh" Jean sighed realizing that was no help as she knew of no one in the mansion that spoke Korean

The found that her pursuers had once again caught up with her. Wolverine was the first out of the copter... he went to the girl and she didn't initially recognize him until he pulled his mask off and hazel eyes flashed with recognition. She knew Logan when she saw his face; her mother had pictures of Logan that she had shown Min-Jee and told her what she could about the man in the images. She ran to him and he embraced her tightly in a gesture that surprised her because as far as she knew he hadn't known of her existence. She wasn't going to question how she managed to end up standing there in her father's arms she was just there.

Suddenly several men approached

"Shit, she found Weapon X, we lost her"

"Its Wolverine now, and your damn straight you lost her" Wolverine retorted summoning his claws and sending Min-Jee to the Jet where a white haired woman helped her inside

Min-Jee looked out as Logan returned to the copter

"Min-Jee, sit down" Scott said

She sat near Logan and he noticed that she leaned forward as soon as they started flying

"What's wrong, kid?" Logan asked

She didn't reply and Logan seemed to understand she had inherited his tendency towards getting sick while flying.

Min-Jee looked up as a gloved hand placed a white bag in her lap, she recognized the white object in question as an airsick bag she nodded in lieu of a thank you and the girl that had given her the bag seemed to get the idea.

They got out of the copter and Min-Jee turned to the girl that had handed her the bag that she, thankfully, didn't have to use.

"Thank you for that" she said

"No prob" the other girl replied indifferently "I'm Rogue by the way"

"Min-Jee"

"Yeah, good to meet you"

"You too, Rogue"

Rogue could tell Min-Jee wasn't used to speaking English and understood this was a difficult time for her

Logan guided Min-Jee into Charles's office where Charles sat there waiting for her to arrive. Charles looked up and welcomed Min-Jee into his office. Logan watched as Min-Jee bowed politely and Charles returned it before things went any further.

Min-Jee noticed the grim look on the professor's face and she had some idea what the news was.

"Min-Jee, have a seat, child"

"What is going on professor?" she asked

"God... I hate to have to tell you this... your mother... your mother was killed"

"I do not understand" she said her voice heavily accented. A Korean-American young woman stepped forward and translated it to Korean and Min-Jee realized what it meant she then began to cry and Logan knelt in front of her and soon held the teen in his arms. She needed him to be something he really wasn't cut out to be, a father, but Charles could see he was willing to try. They could tell she was physically drained, even with her healing factor she could only go so long without food and sleep. He didn't say anything to her, he just held her in his arms as he figured that was what she really needed. Min-Jee began to calm and Logan knew that things were going to be difficult for Min-Jee.

Charles had been prepared to comfort Min-Jee himself if need be, but he was happily surprised when Logan took the initiative to be something of a father for Min-Jee and comfort her himself. Sure Logan had some to learn about being a father, but it was obvious that he was willing to try to slip into this new role and be a father.

**'Andrea, I am sorry I had to ask you to translate that for me, but I figured that she would have difficulty understanding what I was telling her'**

'It's okay, I figure that was best for her... I can stay around if you like' eighteen year old Andrea Park projected in reply 'I brought her some food from my mother's restaurant I thought she would feel more comfortable eating what she would have back in Korea.'

**'Thank you Andrea, I have a room set up for you to use while you're here. The food was very perceptive of you.'**

'Thank you Professor'

Min-Jee and Andrea went into the dining room, Andrea brought two plates out, and Min-Jee recognized the items instantly

_"*Where did you get this?*"_

_"My mother opened a restaurant that serves traditional Korean food; I brought some over here when I heard you were coming as a way to make the transition a bit easier"_

_"Thank you, Andrea unnie"_

_"You're welcome"_

For Andrea who was the youngest in her family having Min-Jee call her 'Andrea unnie' was a pleasant change from what she was normally called by her own siblings. It was true that she had wanted a younger sister, but her mother had said three children were enough, so this was the closest to having a younger sister she would get.

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Meanwhile the Hydra agents were scrambling, they had hoped they could have gotten Min-Jee before she found her father. They knew that once she got into the Xavier Institute they would have to fight to get her back, and most likely lose since they knew that the courts would favor her blood relatives. Logan would be able to get attorneys through Xavier, who would fight to keep Min-Jee with Logan.

"How did she find Weapon X?" the lead agent demanded

"She didn't, he... he found her. Xavier probably located her through her powers and he went to pick her up knowing she would recognize him the moment she laid eyes on him."

"Lauren must have taught her to recognize Logan on sight. Taught her that if anything happened to her, she was to go to him, and while he didn't initially know about her, once he knows that she is indeed his child, there will be no getting her back from him. He'll protect her to the end it's just his nature. His powers give him an animalistic side and animals protect their offspring when anyone or anything comes to try and do them harm"

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There were others interested in Min-Jee, but they had different interests. SHIELD had been watching her with their own interests, but their director also saw the value in letting her get to the Xavier institute, letting her be a teen aged girl and letting her get to know her biological father.

Nick Fury knew that upon the death of Min-Jee's mother Lauren, aka Sara, custody of Min-Jee would revert to James Logan it had been her mother's last wish. She had sent papers to Charles Xavier sighting that and Charles had made sure they were legal and would hold up in court before filling them away praying they wouldn't be necessary, but they were.

Two Hydra agents arrived at the Xavier institute with false documents stating that they were to take custody of Min-Jee Howlett, but Charles knew they were coming and had already pulled the file where he had the documents stating the truth that Logan was to gain custody and countered with that. He also told them if they ever set foot on institute property, again he would have them cited for trespassing.

They had a long conversation Andrea translating for Min-Jee when a blonde teen girl a bit older than Min-Jee arrived in the room

"Dad, is that?"

"Kathy, this is Min-Jee Howlett, Min-Jee this is my daughter Katherine, also known as Kathy"

"_Ahn nyeongh ha seyo_, Kathy" Min-Jee smiled bowing slightly.

"_Ahn nyeongh ha seyo_ it is good to meet you Min-Jee, I just wish the circumstances were better" Kathy replied, Min-Jee noticed Kathy had a slight accent of unknown origin. Min-Jee also noticed that she was comfortable in returning the greeting bow.

"Me too" Min-Jee nodded to the older girl

Kathy could tell that Min-Jee was upset about things and she could relate to Min-Jee in that sense that she too had lost her mother.

Min-Jee was guided to her room where she found a suitcase full of clothes and other things that she wanted or needed.

'How did Professor Xavier know what I needed?' she wondered to herself but shook it off as she began to unpack.

To be continued...

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><p>An: I did some research into Korean culture and customs to try to give Min-Jee's character more depth I hope I didn't mess it up, please politely tell me if I did and note that all flames will be redirected at Hurricane Irene.


	2. Chapter 2

A/n: I know I've been dragging my feet with this update and I'm sorry I've been working on other things well either way here's that update... enjoy!

A/N 2.0: I just noticed that a huge chunk of a line in this story got cut out and I am so sorry that this happened and that I didn't notice it before now.

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><p>"Professor how did Min-Jee end up the way she is?" Scott Summers asked<p>

"Scott, the truth is she was being hunted by Hydra and her mother made the choice for them to hide in South Korea, her mother being of Korean heritage already spoke Korean and taught her daughter Korean. Min-Jee learned a little English through the school system in Korea but that was only conversational English, she barely learned that apparently

"Man that's bad"

"It is... and she has some frustration ahead of her before she gets acclimated to this new environment"

Min-Jee was listening to some music on her mp3 player when Andrea arrived at Min-Jee's room

"Andrea _unnie_... _listen to this,_" she said in Korean

Andrea took one of the earphones and immediately recognized the Korean music

"_What group is this?_"

"_2NE1_ _the song is 'Go Away' I love this group_" Min-Jee smiled "_but I really love BoA... I have every album and mini album she put out in Korea... or I had them_"

**'You still do... they are in a box in your dresser... I know those albums mean a lot to you thus I had them imported so you could listen to them whenever you want'**

'Thank you'

Min-Jee went to her dresser and located the box that was actually a tin that she recognized as having belonged to her mother

"*_Here they are_*"

"_What an amazing collection_"

"*_There was a nurse at the hospital I had to go to all the time that would purchase them for me so I would have something to listen to while I was in the hospital... something to keep me from getting bored_*"

"*_Why did you have to be in the hospital?_*"

"*_Cystic Fibrosis... but my mutation cured it_*" Min-Jee sighed "*_I was diagnosed when I was three years old and I was in and out of hospitals for years after that. I met this nurse when I was five years old... she had recently learned that she couldn't have children of her own therefore she kind of took me in as hers and began to give me these cd's so I wouldn't be bored in the hospital all that time._*"

Charles sighed as he read the reports about her education level, according to this she had good grades in Korea but all that seemed to evaporate when she moved to the United States and they thought that she couldn't read. He soon called Andrea and Min-Jee to his office

"*_Drea_ _unnie_,_ what is going to happen_*"

"*_Its okay, Professor Xavier just wants to evaluate what you know_*"

"*_Okay_*"

They arrived and Min-Jee sat in a desk at the front of the room, Andrea nearby

"Now Min-Jee I want you to read this to me," Charles said gently Min-Jee looked at the page and then to him like he had completely lost his mind

"Min-Jee..."

"*_I cannot read this*_"

As she said that, a light bulb went off in Andrea's head and she took the sheet of notebook paper and translated the phrase to Korean in Hangeul

"_Try that_"

"_Welcome to the Xavier School for the Gifted_"

"Andrea explain please"

"She can't read English, she was never taught the English alphabet or how to read it thus when I translated the phrase to Korean and Hangul she read it easily," Andrea explained

"Oh dear... this is not what I wanted to see in this evaluation." Charles sighed slightly frustrated this was an inconvenience, but now he would have to deal with. Luckily Andrea was prepared to help teach her to speak English plus he had a program from Rosetta Stone that was English for non-native speakers that he had used to help Kurt learn English, he was pretty sure it would work for Min-Jee as well.

Min-Jee went to her room to listen to music and put up some of her posters. Charles then turned to Andrea

"Andrea, why didn't you tell me about your gift?"

"My..."

"You know what I'm talking about"

"Oh, that... I didn't know what you would say"

"I would have asked if you wanted to join Min-Jee as a student at this school."

"Well I don't think my family can afford it"

"I wouldn't charge you anything," Charles said with a smile

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The Hydra agent in charge of recovering Min-Jee groaned; he hated that he had lost Min-Jee to Xavier and he wanted her back. He figured the only way he was going to get Min-Jee now was to kidnap her while Charles wasn't looking. That meant waiting until she left the Institute grounds to nab her.

"How old is X-22," he asked referring to Min-Jee by the code name they had given her at birth

"Fifteen, sir" one of his underlings said

"Fifteen, perfect… she will be put though the weapon X process just as X-23 was"

"What will the claw pattern be for her?"

"Just like Weapon-X himself," the lead officer replied "Giving X-23 only four hand claws was a mistake we won't make again. Six seems to be the magic number"

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Logan was in the garage working on one of the institute vehicles when Storm located him. She had known from the beginning that something was bothering Logan but at the time figured it wasn't her place to pry.

"Logan, is something wrong?" she asked

"Yeah, there's somethin wrong" he retorted from under the vehicle "I can't even talk to my own kid, that's what's wrong… she barely understands a damn thing I say, and I'm supposed to try and bond with her!"

Ororo sighed he had a point

"I wanna be able to look her in the eye and tell her that I won't let those bastards at Hydra hurt her. Tell her I'm here to protect her, but I can't she don't understand me well enough to get what I'm saying to her" Logan ranted as he came out from under the vehicle

"She understands more than you think, Logan" a voice said

Both adults looked to see Andrea Park standing nearby.

"Really…" Logan said "from what I've collected she barely understands a lick of English"

"She has a basic understanding of the English language as you have heard first hand she is capable of making some sentences in English, albeit not very well, but she can do it." Andrea said, "She has told me that her biggest wish is that she could get to know you better, learn what her mother couldn't tell her about you about the person you've become over the years."

"I wish I could to, Drea but I ain't good at this kinda thing" Logan sighed

"Nor are you that good at speaking English" Ororo muttered under her breath earning a glare from the Canadian mutant but if she noticed it she didn't let it show.

A month passed and Min-Jee's English seemed to be improving along with her relationship with those around her. One afternoon she was in her room with the door open playing music and dancing along when Logan passed. He couldn't help look in on her and notice that she seemed to have a real talent for dance and a decent singing voice. He figured she got that from her mother, as he couldn't sing to save his life and had two left feet to boot.

The song ended and Min-Jee noticed her father's presence in the doorway for the first time.

"Hi… Dad" she said still insecure about her English but obviously making an attempt

"I wish I could tell if you really understood me now"

"I do… more than before" she replied looking down "It is difficult but I try my best… I really do want to know you… though I know it sometimes seems that I avoid you I have just had a very difficult month, you do understand correct?"

"I understand… things have been hard and you need to grieve the loss of your mother."

"I am glad you understand"

"I understand this situation more than you know, darlin," he whispered unaware that his daughter's ears were as good as his own. She wondered for a moment what he meant by that, she figured she could ask Charles or Ororo later about it, but now she was with her father and that was all that mattered.

'What does that mean, _Appa_…? I know what the words mean but how do you understand how I feel?' Min-Jee wondered as she looked at Logan's face.

"Logan we have an emergency" Ororo said into the room

"Min-Jee, I have to go"

"I understand" Min-Jee said "go… I am okay"

Logan left and Min-Jee sighed

"_Appa_ _sarangheyo_" she whispered

Logan stopped and looked at her at hearing what she said. He turned with one brow raised in confusion

"What did you say?"

"I love you, dad" she translated for herself "that is how I would say it in Korean… _sarangheyo_ means 'I love you' and 'Appa' means dad"

Logan smiled "I love you too" he embraced her gently and she returned it

Logan left and Min-Jee turned the CD player back on and went back to dancing.

To Be Continued…


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